Written by

Sam Borden

Journal News columnist

Jacobs will sit out with knee injury

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Running back Brandon Jacobs is going to miss the Giants' game against Dallas tomorrow with a knee injury, and that might add a new element to the team's backfield.It's "Water," otherwise known as second-year pro Danny Ware.Jacobs and backups Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw have dubbed themselves "Earth, Wind and Fire" with the 6-foot-4, 264-pound Jacobs being "Earth."Jacobs, who has team highs of 1,002 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns, aggravated his left knee in Sunday's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and did not practice this week."We just don't think he will be ready," coach Tom Coughlin said after practice yesterday.Ward ("Wind") will start in Jacobs' place.Ware, who has never carried the ball in an NFL regular-season game, probably will be the third back if Coughlin decides to dress him, although there is an outside chance the coach could use veteran Reuben Droughns.Droughns has played on special teams in 11 games. Ware has appeared in three games.Ware was thrilled to talk about carrying the ball for the first time in a game that counted since his days at Georgia."I can't wait," he said. "I just hope and pray that I get the chance to go in. ... I felt pretty good about the preseason and had a positive finish. I just want to pick up where I left off."

The Associated Press

More

ADVERTISEMENT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It wasn't that long ago that Eli Manning was supposed to be the worst quarterback in the NFC East and Tony Romo was supposed to be the best. It wasn't that long ago - just over a year - that most Giants fans looked to Dallas with a little bit of jealousy as Romo, smiling all the while, was scoring with his wide receivers and scoring with Jessica Simpson. A year ago all the questions were about Manning. He wasn't leading the team, wasn't delivering the numbers, wasn't nearly worth the draft-day trade that brought him here. Wouldn't ever get the respect from the locker room. Wouldn't ever be as good as his brother.

Today those doubts feel laughable. And it is Romo, not Manning, who comes into tomorrow night's game in Texas with the questions looming over him about dissension among his teammates, a season spiraling away and a wavering sentiment over his ability to someday actually win a big game.

Manning is the golden one now. He has not been perfect; last week's game against Philadelphia goes up with the three interceptions in Cleveland on the list of forgettable performances this season. But the finish to last season and the playoff run and that night in the desert in Arizona turned Manning into an almost untouchable, and he has continued to play like that kind of star this year.

He leads the Giants into the last game they will ever play at Texas Stadium with a chance to deliver the final blow to Romo's fractured season and essentially knock the Cowboys out of the playoff race.

"Obviously it is Dallas, and at Dallas it is always a big game," Manning said. Always. Especially this week, when the Giants are trying to erase the bitterness of an all-around shoddy showing against, another division rival, the Eagles, who pretty much slapped them around last week at home. Beyond the obvious attention that comes with playing against Romo, Manning will also have to guide an offense that will be missing its best wide receiver (Plaxico Burress) and its best running back (Brandon Jacobs, who was officially ruled out yesterday with an injured knee).

Tom Coughlin refused to indicate whether the Giants' game plan will be significantly affected with Jacobs' absence, saying, "The scheme is the scheme and we have always utilized whichever back was in there in the way they could be (used)." But it's still natural to wonder if the Giants will go to their spread offense a little more as compensation, a week after having their passing game stifled in windy conditions at Giants Stadium. The spread is a formation that gives Manning more receiving options and keeps a target off of any one particular receiver. So far this season, Manning has completed 59 of 110 passes on plays where there are only two receivers on the field vs. 62 of 90 when there are four or more. "We didn't have a whole lot of receivers have catches in the (Eagles) game," Manning said earlier this week, "so hopefully we can get the receivers back in the game plan and have them make some plays for us."

Romo has his own set of issues. He's still wearing a cast on the finger he broke earlier this season and on Thursday came word that Terrell Owens was upset with Romo because the quarterback was, in Owens' mind, too friendly with Dallas tight end Jason Witten and had been coming up with different offensive plays during private meetings with him. Yesterday, Owens reportedly held a wide receivers-only meeting at Cowboys camp, excluding both Witten and Romo.

"Tony and I have been friends for a long time, way before either one of us were playing that much," Witten said on ESPN Radio on Thursday. "I don't think we're drawing up many plays together to be completely honest, but I don't think Terrell feels that way. I think he knows he's a playmaker, and we try to go to him, and we have other guys we try to get the ball to, too."

While Owens' latest episode is obviously different than the distractions surrounding Burress (so far no bullets involved), it's only fair to wonder how the dynamic between Romo and Owens will affect the Cowboys' offense. In the biggest game of the year, there are questions about whether Romo will be able to go to his best receiver with complete confidence - or if he'll feel pressure to throw to Owens more in hopes of quelling the controversy.

Manning already knows exactly how much more of a load he'll have to handle. His best receiver is out. Best running back, too. A year ago it would have all seemed insurmountable going into a national TV game against the Cowboys. Not this time. No Giants fan is looking to Dallas with envy anymore. Tomorrow night is just another opportunity for Manning to show why.